Goals against Bayern Munich are so rare that Manuel Neuer has stopped paying attention

Brooks Peck

Dirty TackleFebruary 11, 2013

Manchester United widened the gap between them and second-place Man City to 12 points on Sunday, prompting many fans to write off the Premier League season as boring and already over. Meanwhile, in Germany, Bayern Munich have a 15-point lead on Borussia Dortmund and winning comfortably has become so common for Bayern that goalkeeper Manuel Neuer needs his teammates to keep him entertained during matches.

Bayern have allowed just seven goals all season (for comparison's sake, Man United have allowed 31 and Barcelona have allowed 26). It's been six matches since a team last scored against them. Six. Over their last five matches, Bayern have outscored their opponents 13-0, winning by at least two goals in each. According to Bild, Bayern have the biggest ever lead atop the Bundesliga table through 21 rounds and the fewest goals allowed.

Given this level of sustained domination, Neuer has understandably grown bored with waiting for something to save. So in the second half of Bayern's match against his former club, Schalke, Neuer turned his back on the game and had unused substitute Thomas Muller head balls to him from just behind the end line after Bayern's third and fourth goals (in the 51st and 63rd minutes, respectively).

Should this trend continue, Neuer will probably get a lot of reading done by the end of the season.